Afternoon Roundup: Madonna in Russia; “9 to 5″ To Close; Brainless in Beantown

Super-buff and possible photo-doctoring victim Madonna has been asked by Communist Party members in Russia to dress more demurely. They also want her to sing a revolutionary song when her concert tour stops in St. Petersburg this Sunday. The group wrote: “You should be dressed modestly, sing melodically, and keep the rules of morality in mind.” [UPI]

Nine to Midnight: It’s quittin’ time for Dolly Parton’s Broadway musical “9 to 5.” After a five-month run, the show — which is based on the film of the same name — will close on September 6 after 148 performances and 24 previews. [Reuters]

Brainless in Beantown: As if the Gates-Crowley racial media frenzy didn’t have enough legs already. A Boston police officer just got himself suspended for sending out a racist e-mail about the incident. [WSJ]

A Noodle Shop in the Desert: Director Zhang Yimou’s remake of the Coen Brother’s first film, “Blood Simple” (1984), has gotten Sony Pictures Classics to distribute it in many parts of the world. Zhang has directed such pictures as “Raise the Red Lantern,” “House of Flying Daggers,” and “Hero.” The producer of the so-far-untitled film is Bill Kong of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” The upcoming film is described as “set in a Chinese noodle shop in a sand dune-specked desert, rather than a bar in an unnamed Texas town. The owner of the noodle shop’s seemingly simple plan to murder his adulterous wife and her lover quickly spins out of control after the introduction of a gun into the lives of characters more accustomed to knives and swords.”